2. Safeguarding Children

The Planning and Supervision of activities are two of the most important considerations when working with children. Both are significant factors in helping to create a safe environment, protect children and others and prevent accidents and incidents.

2.1 Planning

All activities involving children and vulnerable adults, regardless of their nature and apparent risk level, should be planned. Part of this involves undertaking a "risk assessment" to consider the dangers and difficulties which may arise and make plans to reduce them (please see the section on Reporting and managing incidents for more information). Appropriate planning also means that you must:

a. Provide advance written information:

  • to the parents/carers/teachers of the children or vulnerable adults.
  • give details of all the activities or protocols that you will or might undertake.
  • plan for all possibilities so that all parties know what to expect.
  • consider whether to have a briefing meeting prior to the activity with the parents/carers and participants.

b. Obtain a consent form:

  • signed by the parents/carers, which agrees to the child or vulnerable adult participating in the identified activity. If the activity is organised through a school or other organisation, this will normally be administered and undertaken by them.
  • the consent form should also provide parent/carer emergency contact and medical information.

c. Ensure that adequate insurance arrangements are in place:

  • check whether additional cover needs to be arranged.
  • remember that insurance policies impose conditions, limit the cover, and exclude certain people or activities. The University's Health, Safety and Environment Adviser or Insurance Officer (Finance Division) will be able to provide guidance.

d. Support the special and cultural needs of the group/individuals:

  • you must have relevant access to information about individuals.
  • consent forms could also form the basis for obtaining details such as special educational, medical, dietary or cultural needs.
  • you may also need to consider supervision ratios, additional safety measures, activity venues and access arrangements, additional/different resources and adapting activities to enable all individuals to participate at a suitable level.

e. Be clear about the suitability of the activity in relation to the objectives:

  • plan activities that consider the participants' age, maturity, competence, fitness, temperament and any special needs.
  • you may also need to consider seasonal conditions, weather and timing.

f. Undertake an exploratory visit to the location of the activity:

  • this will enable you to accurately assess the potential areas and level of risk and to ensure that the venue is suitable and can cater for the needs of the group
  • this is particularly important if you are using a location or venue that is unfamiliar to you

g. Have in place contingency measures and arrangements:

  • to deal with enforced changes of plan and for action in the event of an emergency.

2.2 Supervision

If you are leading or supervising an activity involving children you have a legal, professional and moral responsibility to safeguard their welfare. This means that you must endeavour to provide a safe and supportive environment. Failure to take action to prevent harm may result in abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, neglect).

Supervisors working with children are expected to take additional steps to safeguard their welfare and in law, a higher duty of care is expected. Some potentially hazardous activities such as those involving chemicals, use of machinery/equipment or those involving swimming or outdoors and adventurous activities also require a higher standard of care.

The provision of adequate supervision means that you must:

a. Consider the supervisor to participant ratios:

  • these need to take account of the age of the children, any special educational, disability or medical needs and degree of risk involved in the activity.
  • where the activity involves mixed gender, consideration must be given to having male/female supervisors available.
  • some professional associations and Local Authorities set recommended levels of supervision. Where these apply they should be followed.

b. Be clear about who is in charge:

  • communicate who this is to all those involved.
  • in some situations the leadership/supervision of an activity may change (for instance a school teacher may hand over responsibility to a University tutor on arrival, an expert may take over the leadership of a particular element of an activity, or with residential activities supervisory responsibilities may change).
  • in all cases, it is important that any transfer of leadership/supervisory responsibility is made explicit to all participants.

c. Use supervisors who have been carefully selected and vetted:

  • this is particularly important for residential activities or where transport/driving is involved.
  • anyone without a Criminal Records Bureau Enhanced Disclosure should not be left in sole charge of children.

d. Ensure that supervisors understand their roles and responsibilities at all times:

  • supervisors need to be aware of any participants who may require closer supervision, such as those with special educational or behavioural needs.
  • supervisors also need to know how to manage a situation where a participant becomes unable or unwilling to continue with the activity.

e. Have a list of the participants involved in the activity:

  • undertake head counts frequently and before moving to another location or area of the campus.
  • understand the code of conduct for working with children and vulnerable adults (see the section on Risk assessment).
  • make sure that all supervisors are familiar with this.

f. Prepare the participants for the activity:

  • provide information and guidance as to what is expected of them and what the activity will entail.
  • identify what standard of behaviour is expected and what rules must be followed .
  • where participants are working in small groups, but without direct supervision and out of sight of the supervisor(s) (such as field trips/data collection), clear instructions and ground rules should be set about sticking together and returning at a nominated time.
  • it is important that participants are told not to go off on their own.

In this Code of Practice: